Scharell, Germany, October, 2013 The Scharrel community wind farm at Saterland’s Ostermoor bog in Germany is built with a focus on big wind turbines in order to generate “green” electrical power. Franz Bracht Kranvermietung specializes in heavy lifts and was hired to erect Enercon E-101 wind turbines at the wind farm. Reaching a hub height of 149 meters, these turbines are the largest models of the E-101 series. For the erection of these giants, the crane service provider relied on the capabilities of the new Terex® Superlift 3800 lattice boom crawler crane, which was developed with this type of application in mind.

The new Superlift 3800 crawler crane showed its power and efficiency right from the setup on site. Thanks to the crane’s lateral outriggers, the Bracht team erected it with much less ballast than would be necessary for other cranes of the same class and without an assist crane, reducing transport costs. “This not only shortens the setup time, but also means that fewer transportation trucks are required, which saves us money,” says crane operator Michael Hildebrand. Thanks to its design to make assembly easy, the crane was fully set up with an SLS + LF_4, 153 m main boom and + 12 m LF superlift configuration in a mere two days – ready to erect the wind turbines.

The Superlift 3800 is the only crane in its capacity class ( 599 t to 699 t) that can erect Enercon E-101 wind turbines with up to 150 meters hub heights. “Despite the large load, the Superlift 3800 responded perfectly to its controls even when performing close to its operating limits: The slewing system, with its two motors, worked extremely smoothly, and the hoisting gear enabled me to maneuver loads with incredible precision within a range of centimeters,” reports Hildebrand.

Wire rope lengths of up to 167 meters

Erecting the concrete tower sections was the prelude to the most challenging part of the lift. The Terex Superlift 3800 picked up these sections from the ground in tandem with a mobile crane in order to prevent them from swinging while being placed in their vertical positions. After the concrete tower was completed, the heaviest load was next. The 67 tonne nacelle was lifted to a height of 150 meters and then placed onto the tower. The final portion of the lift, positioning three 50-meter-long rotor blades to be connected to the nacelle, required laser-like precision and just the right touch, since the blades were relatively lightweight and had plenty of surface area for the wind to catch. The new Terex Superlift 3800 crawler crane demonstrated its qualities once again: “Despite the enormous wire rope length of 167 meters that we used for these lifts, the smoothly running hook block made sure that the blades didn’t start swinging around,” reports Hildebrand, who felt right at home inside the new Terex crane. “You can notice that the needs of crane operators were consistently taken into account by the design engineers. For example, all the controls are placed in the upper area of the large cab, which means I can always keep an eye on them while looking at the load when working at heights.”

“As a former CC 2800-1 operator, and without advertising, the Superlift 3800 crawler crane is really an outstanding crane,” ended Hildebrand.

About The Terex® Superlift 3800 crawler crane

The 650 tonne (716 US t) Terex® Superlift 3800 lattice boom crawler crane features a maximum load moment of 8.426 meter tonnes and is designed to provide its owners excellent return of investment. Every single component is designed for worldwide transportation and to reduce erection times and the need for additional equipment. A wide array of safety features, including the award winning Terex fall protection system, come standard. The Superlift 3800 crawler crane can be delivered with an integrated wind kit in an universal main boom system: the crane is capable to erect wind turbines of 117 meters (384 ft) without using the available superlift boom configuration. In this configuration, LH 114 m + 12 m LF, the main boom can be erected without employing an assist crane. The Superlift 3800 is the first Terex crawler crane to feature the new cabin design. Providing operators with an excellent working environment, it was developed with extensive feedback gathered from customer workshops, leading industrial stylists and experts in ergonomics. The Superlift 3800 lattice boom crawler crane conforms to both, the European norm EN 13000 and the US standard ASME B30.5. It can lift a maximum load of 650 tonnes (716 US t) at a radius of 5 to 12 meters (16 to 39 ft).

About Franz Bracht Kran-Vermietung GmbH

Erwitte-based Franz Bracht Kran-Vermietung GmbH is one of the 50 leading crane service providers in the world. The company, which today employs around 550 people at 13 locations, was founded in 1964 and today relies on a fleet featuring approximately 750 vehicle units, including around 210 mobile cranes with lifting capacities of 7 to 1,600 tonnes. The company has been certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2000 national and international standards and to TÜV’s Safety Certificate Contractors (SCC) standard since 2000. Its clientele includes not only wind turbine manufacturers, but also corporate clients from the fields of reinforced concrete construction, structural and civil engineering, prefabricated construction, large-scale industries, and the petrochemical industry. Expert crane operators and state-of-the-art machinery in all lifting capacity categories are two of the many factors that enable Bracht to always guarantee optimum service for every single project.

Terex Corporation is a diversified global manufacturer of a broad range of equipment that is focused on delivering reliable, customer-driven solutions for many applications, including the construction, infrastructure, quarrying, mining, shipping, transportation, refining, energy, utility and manufacturing industries. Terex reports in five business segments: Aerial Work Platforms; Construction; Cranes; Material Handling & Port Solutions; and Materials Processing. Terex offers financial products and services to assist in the acquisition of equipment through Terex Financial Services. More information can be found at www.terex.com